


False Magick

by _crime lord_ (goddamnit_cherik), goddamnit_cherik



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alina Starkov is Still a Sun Summoner, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Angst and Feels, Canon-Typical Behavior, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Dark, Dark Magic, Gang Violence, Gen, Good Slytherins, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Rivalry, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Hogwarts First Year, Hogwarts House Sorting, I'm Bad At Summaries, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Magic, POV Alternating, Politics, Quidditch, Self-Esteem Issues, Slytherin Politics, Time Skips, no grisha, only wizards/witches, there's not a lot of the original grisha trilogy characters sorry, this is all plotted out don't worry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-23 07:43:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21316630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddamnit_cherik/pseuds/_crime%20lord_, https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddamnit_cherik/pseuds/goddamnit_cherik
Summary: Ever since The Darkling and his followers created the Shadow Fold in Hogwarts the whole magical community has been on edge. No one knows when the next Dark Wizard, or Merzostnik, will rise up to fill the vacuum that was created by The Darkling's defeat. Lines are being drawn in the sand and sides are being taken. Anti-Slytherin sentiment is on the rise and anything suspicious is reported to the Ministry or the Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. It is an almost inhospitable environment for the weak minded child in its midst.But Kaz Brekker and his gang of misfits and thieves are not weak. Far from it. They have what it takes to survive and even thrive in the School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But are Kaz Brekker and his Dregs surviving too well? There are whispers of merzost's black power awakening again at the heart of Hogwarts, and with Dirtyhands baring his fangs...anything could happen.
Relationships: Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck, Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa, Mal Oretsev/Alina Starkov, Matthias Helvar/Nina Zenik, Nikolai Lantsov & Alina Starkov, Nikolai Lantsov/Zoya Nazyalensky, The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	1. Prologue: Alina

Alina cried out in pain as a _ nichevo'ya _ claw sliced out and slashed her already wounded shoulder. She stumbled back, wand held out in front of her defiantly. Alina knew she didn’t have much Light left in her. It had taken all of her own power and all of Morozova’s Amplifiers to destroy the Shadow Fold, but it had still not been enough to rid the world of The Darkling. He had rallied his Slytherin followers, the _ oprichniki, _to him as the Fold came apart and they all rushed Alina and the Soldat Sol behind and around her. 

The Hogwarts grounds were filled with combatants and magical creatures, some benevolent and some malevolent. Volecra were flapping around wildly trying to snare unsuspecting victims while the _ nichevo'ya _ targeted the Soldat Sol warriors. It was absolute chaos. Alina saw Zoya, one of the only Slytherin Sun Supporters, strike down an _ Oprichnik _with a frightfully accurate stunning curse. But as one went down two more rushed her. Alina turned to help her when an unholy shriek split the air. She recognized that particular pained scream. 

_ Nikolai. _

He dove sharply out of the clouded sky and violently bit into the dark clothed wizard assaulting Zoya. Nikolai gripped him with black talons and flew back up into the air. A few moments later the _ Oprichnik _ ’s body came crashing down and landed with a sickening crunch. He repeated this dive bombing attack on several other _ oprichniki, _ rescuing many of the Soldat Sol. Alina whispered a silent prayer of thanks and turned back to The Darkling and the remaining _ oprichniki _still crowding around him. The Darkling was looking directly at Alina even through the carnage around him; his glimmering quartz eyes were crushing, even from such a distance. 

He kept his eyes locked on Alina as he pushed through the ranks toward her. Never once did he falter as she let the Light burn in a halo around her. Before she dared to strike she could have sworn she saw a flash of haughty satisfaction cross The Darkling’s stony gaze. 

_ “Baubillious!” _

Alina cast a spell that shot powerful white sparks out from her wand that cut right into the ranks of _ oprichniki _like butter. It would have sliced The Darkling’s Head clean off if it weren’t for his shield spell cast at the very last second. 

“Alina.” That one word was enough to stop her from readying another spell. “Alina.” He said again. “Stop this.” 

He held out his calloused hands and blackness spread out of them. He was so tremendously powerful; he didn’t even need a wand to conjure this darkness. And this black cloud he was summoning...this would be his new and improved Shadow Fold. As the realization locked into place Alina stirred herself into action. She couldn’t let the Darkling continue his dabbling with _ Merzost. _It had to end here. 

With one mighty raise of the hands, the Light came spilling out with the force of an exploding sun. Enough to match Aleksander’s pulsing darkness. The meeting of these two polar opposite forces shook Hogwarts down to its very foundation.


	2. 1 | Inej

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so this au is basically all of the grishaverse stuff mashed into the harry potter magic system. So there aren't grisha but Ravka calls its wizards and witches that (if that makes sense????) Oh and all the continents and nations that are in the grishaverse are here too, except with Great Britain in there as well. Hopefully you'll get it as the fic progresses.

The platform was filled with bodies all jostling Inej as she stood there clutching her bags close to her chest. Her parents had just waved goodbye to her and sent her off onto the magical Platform 9 and three quarters. They had given her precise instructions on where to go and who to follow but the endless noise of the platform disoriented Inej. She was about ready to concede defeat when she heard a man’s voice roar above the crowd. 

“First years to me! All first years!” 

A huge man was calling out from the edge of the platform. His shaggy hair was going every which way, but his hoarse and lively tone was reassuring somehow. She pushed through the crowd until she was basically standing underneath the absurdly tall man. It took him several seconds to notice her standing there expectantly. 

“Oh! I didn’t see you there! Onto the train, quickly now.” He gestured urgently but with a sweet smile. Inej smiled softly back and climbed into the open door. The inside of the train was lavishly decorated but it somehow didn’t feel too loud or busy. Inej skittered from room to room looking for somewhere interesting to sit. When a few minutes passed she began to sweat nervously: what if she couldn’t find anybody to sit with? 

Luckily she wouldn’t have to worry for long. A pair of first years appeared around the corner and almost bumped into her. One was a tall brown haired girl and the other was a boy of equal height but with blond hair and a surly disposition. The girl was chatting excitedly with him until she almost collided with Inej’s small frame. 

“Oh hello there, I didn’t see you! I’m Nina, this is Matthias!” The girl named Nina elbowed Matthias, as if to stir his dormant politeness. He only scowled slightly. 

“Hi. Want to sit with us?” His voice was surprising deep for such a young boy. 

“Sure!” They seemed interesting enough, and Inej was just glad to not be alone. 

The newly formed trio found an empty apartment and took their seats. All the while, Nina was eagerly telling Inej about anything that came to her, including how she met Matthias in the first place. It was a wild story that involved shoving, teasing and a little bit of begging. It was greatly amusing to Inej, who had really needed a good hearty laugh. After a brief pause, a freakishly tall boy poked his head into their apartment. 

“Hey, mind if my friend and I sit with you guys? Everyone else’s cabins are all full.” 

To no one’s surprise, Nina lit up like a Christmas light and nodded. “Come on in! There’s always room for more!” Matthias rolled his eyes and seemed even more morose at the prospect of yet more people in his space. 

“Cool! Wy, come meet our new friends.” The new boy gestured for “Wy” to come sit with him at Nina’s side. 

“Hi! I’m Jesper, this is Wylan. How do you do?” Jesper had a chipper voice with a unique accent that titled up and gave his speech a pleasant musical element to it. His eyes were always scanning around the room which starkly contrasted Wylan’s shy demeanor and always downcast eyes. 

“Quite well, thank you! We were just sharing backstories actually. Care to share your probably amazing and breathtaking tales?” Nina said with a glimmer of mischief in her green eyes. 

Taking no notice of Nina’s scheming gaze, Jesper smiled. “I have quite a story to tell! It all began with a boy on a  _ Jurda _ farm…” 

He went on to recite how he was raised by his “magical” mother and  _ otkazat’sya _ father. He delved into such detail that Inej found her eyes either drooping or slipping off into the distance. When she could no longer stand to be idle, she looked at Matthias who was sitting to her right. 

“So I assume your version of meeting Nina is a bit different from her’s?” She asked as innocently as possible. 

“Very different. She just came up to me and started squawking like some kind of deranged bird. I feared for my life, so naturally I had to go with her or risk losing my ears.” 

Inej laughed at his surprising easy wit. Maybe he wasn’t so sullen and prickly all the time. 

“She is a bit...excited. I wouldn’t call her a “deranged bird” though.” 

At that he finally cracked a smile despite his visible efforts to avoid it. 

“You haven’t spent more than ten minutes alone with her yet. Once you have,  _ then _ you’re allowed an opinion on the matter.” 

Conversation continued at an easy pace between the five first years for a while. Inej found that this group of people was full of diverse experiences that made for a thrilling group presence. She never felt excluded in the conversation, and in turn never excluded anybody else. Her parents were right; trust your instincts and they would guide you to the right people. 

But eventually there was a lull in the conversation that Inej took to retreat to the bathroom. After relieving herself she almost didn’t hear it. The very quiet snuffling inside the men’s room. She pressed her ear to the door trying to discern if it was what she thought it was. 

_ Crying.  _ Someone was sobbing in one of the stalls. It was a heart wrenching sound that was painfully quiet. It was being stifled, she realized. Whoever was in there didn’t want anyone to hear or see. Well she  _ had  _ heard it, and her Saints would not allow her to let someone be in pain. 

So she waited around the corner until the snuffling stopped and a figure exited the bathroom. He was a boy of about average height for his age, maybe a little shorter. His hair was a top of mussed blackness that covered one of his muddy chocolate eyes. He was wearing a rumbled white dress shirt and black pants that seemed too formal to Inej. But the thing that really shocked her was the boy’s cane. It was a black stick with a crow’s head, or maybe  _ skull _ topping it. The boy’s gloved hands tightened around it reflexively when he saw her. 

“Hey. Do you need a place to sit? We have an open seat!” Inej made sure to keep her voice low. She didn’t know what would spook him, so she chose to be straightforward. 

He considered her for a few seconds. His muddy eyes seemed to sharpen intensely as he raked his eyes over her, as if assessing a potential threat. 

“Yeah.” His voice was a knife against stone. 

“Great! Follow me, it’s just around here.” She nodded once at him and led him to her group’s apartment. It was full of ruckus as Nina and Jesper debated hotly over the taste of  _ Jurda _ blossoms. 

“No it does  _ not  _ taste good Jes! It tastes like peppery grass!” 

“Au contraire, it tastes like  _ salty  _ grass, which I happen to like, thank you very much. And have you even tried it for more than a few moments? Truly it gets better with age!” Jesper said with a self-satisfied smirk. 

Before Nina could get a stinging retort in, Inej cleared her throat. All the heads in the cabin turned towards her and her companion, who was currently trying to melt into the shadows. 

“Well I found us another one. This is…” 

“Kaz.” Another one word response tinged with a rock salt rasp. 

“Oh, he looks like a delightful edition to the team.” Jesper spoke up with a new light on his face and gestured for them to take their seats. Inej returned to her seat next to Matthias but this time had Kaz on her left. He had a different kind of shy aura to Wylan’s. Instead of being shy because of some kind of ingrained need to be small, it was more like he was accessing each member of the cabin. They were some kind of intricate puzzle that needed solving, perhaps. That maybe if he stared hard enough each of them would just pop open and reveal their secrets. 

But the flow of conversation continued on anyway. Occasionally Kaz would offer a sarcastic word or two when it was needed. Jesper would laugh the hardest at these interjections. An unexplainable feeling swept through Inej as they talked on. It felt warm in her chest, like a blanket was encircling her heart. These people had awoken that feeling in her, she realized. 

These were her people, her  _ friends,  _ and thank the Saints she found them. If she had to go into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry alone…..

She filed that thought away and pushed off the shudder that had begun to take hold.


	3. 2 | Matthias

The train ride was an emotional roller coaster for Matthias. First he had met Nina, who had instantly glued herself to his side, and then he had met the rest of this motley crew. Currently Matthias ranked them on how loud and obnoxious they were being.

Wylan, Inej and Kaz were the highest on this list. They kept to themselves for the majority of the ride, only adding to the conversation when they felt the need to. Kaz spoke the least, and Matthias thanked Djel for it. His voice was sharper than a knife’s edge and twice as scary. But he often wished to hear more of the pale boy’s experiences, like how he had acquired his crow’s head cane for instance.

Inej had charmed Matthias, despite his efforts. She always had something insightful or reasonable to add. She countered Nina’s brusqueness with class and Jesper’s boundless energy with impenetrable calm. He appreciated it.

Wylan was an enigma. He always kept his head down and his mouth shut. He would occasionally offer a word of advice, most often to Jesper, and then go right back to staring at his feet. Matthias found himself trying to get the boy to speak, to no avail. At least he wasn’t as annoying as Jesper.

The brown skinned Zemeni boy poked and prodded Matthias every chance he got. He made fun of his stony attitude, saying that he looked like a soldier perpetually standing at attention. Matthias didn’t dare tell him that he was right.

But Nina got under his skin the most. She just would not stop running her mouth about everything that came to mind. The color of the rolling hills outside the train’s windows, the brilliant way the light hit Wylan’s red hair-which he blushed at quite adorably-and about what houses she thought they would all get.

This was the only part of conversation that Matthias eagerly took part in. He had quite a few opinions on the various houses, but especially Gryffindor and Slytherin.

“I am certainly a Gryffindor, no doubt about it.” He was saying. “My family is proud _chistaya krov,_ and we’re all Gryffindors.”

“Oh good for you lion boy. I think I’ll be Gryffindor as well, so have fun living near me for seven years!” Nina said as she laughed loudly at the comically pained expression that distorted Matthias’s face.

“You’re a pure blood eh? Well, I only had one magical parent and let me tell you, one is enough.” Jesper said.

“Had?” Kaz’s gravelly voice interjected.

“Yeah, she died a few years back. But at least I get to honor her by going to a magic school and learning her trade!” Despite Jesper’s attempt to lighten the mood, the darkness of the death of a parent hung in the hair.

“My dad was surprised when I got accepted into Hogwarts.” Wylan’s small voice drew Matthias’s eyes. “He thought I was an _otkazat’sya_ until the letter came in. My magic took its time to show up, I guess.” Wylan sighed, as if he was glad to get that finally off his chest.

“Don’t worry about it Wy, I didn’t start accidentally turning people into waffles until I was about ten!” That remark from Nina garnered a laugh from everyone and offered Matthias another chance to broach another topic.

“What are your guys’ thoughts on Slytherin? I’ve been hearing a lot about them recently.”

This time it was Inej who piped up. “I think that they’re just like us. They’ve just had a few bad apples as of late.”

Jesper nodded his agreement, alongside Wylan. Nina and Kaz, however, looked quite ruffled. Kaz in particular.

But before either of them could speak their mind, the train chugged to a stop. They had arrived. In what felt like a blur, all the new students were shuffled off the train and out into the crisp air. They were led to boats that they were expected to climb into. Matthias remembered this from his parents’ explanation. Once all the kids were safely across the lake they finally entered the huge castle that was to be their school. It awed Matthias into reverent silence as he was led into the great hall.

It was here where the children sat and waited to be addressed by the Headmaster and then….

They would be sorted. Matthias was so excited he almost missed Dumbledore’s speech. He snapped back into reality just in time to hear the end of it.

“And we must remember to be vigilant! Danger could be around any corner, and we must be ready for it. Only four years ago, The Darkling rose up and cursed this school with his madness. But good always triumphs over evil, and he was defeated. His downfall taught us all a lesson: better to serve in Heaven then to reign in Hell. You are all angels, and you are to never forsake yourself or your neighbor. Remember that and all will be well!”

Matthias was struck by a discordant pang of...fear? Nervousness? Why had the headmaster chosen to be so bold with his word choice? Was something going to happen again?

But before his mind could race with any more paralyzing thoughts, the Sorting Hat was brought out. It was a tattered old thing, but it still instilled a feeling of hope in Matthias. His legs bounced up and down as students were called up to be sorted. The first of his train group to be called was Kaz. As he limped up to the front of the hall some students sniggered at him for his disability. Matthias wanted to punch them. Maybe he would later if he caught them at it again.

The hat had only just barely touched the top of Brekker’s head when it shouted out, “SLYTHERIN!”

There was some customary applause, but it felt hollow. Slytherin was dangerous, the crowd murmured, and now they have another in their ranks. A cripple no less.

But the whispers quickly faded away once more names were called. Jesper was called up next. The hat sat on his head and considered its choices for a long time. Eventually it came to a decision and yelled, “HUFFLEPUFF!” This time there was a thunderous applause. Hufflepuff was _Sankta_ Alina’s house, and any new addition was highly valued.

Inej’s name was called. She went up with a smile and clasped her hands together. The hat only took a few seconds to decide on “GRYFFINDOR!”

More applause. Matthias was glad to have Inej in his corner; she was strong. He could already tell.

Now it was Matthias’ turn. He was so hopped up on adrenaline he almost missed his own name. He made his way up and stood underneath the hat that would decide his future.

_“Ah, I see. Brave, yet kind. Very very hardworking. Oh and so so loyal. Mhm, yes. I see no other house for you other than…_

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

Matthias’ heart hit the floor. Hufflepuff? Really? He had come from a long line of Gryffindors, an unbroken chain that had lasted longer than fifty years now! And now he, Matthias, was the one disgraceful enough to break that chain. Never mind that he was in Sankta Alina’s house. He could never make things right now.

With a huge scowl, Matthias made his way to the Hufflepuff table. It was full of smiling and welcoming students all eager to take him in, but Matthias just wasn’t having it. All he wanted to do was tear something up, cry into his pillow, anything to escape this sinking, awful feeling in his gut. The other Hufflepuffs seemed to pick up on his absolutely foul mood and looked away. No one else came up to pat him on the back.

Nina approached the Sorting Hat last. The tattered thing wasn’t on her head for more than two seconds before shouting, “GRYFFINDOR!”

And if his heart wasn’t broken enough, Nina’s sorting was the last straw. Matthias felt a burning hot rage pierce him at every angle that hurt. Why was _she_ eligible to be in Gryffindor but he wasn’t? She didn’t come from a noble Gryffindor family like he did. She was a _nobody._

This was the first time Matthias realized that maybe, just maybe…this whole Hogwarts thing wouldn’t be as great as he thought it would be.


End file.
